Blooma Blog

This will be a really quick post because 1) there are signs of movement on the baby monitor and 2) I'm in the midst of washing a bunch of new cloth diapers. But I just wanted to bop in and share a link to my story published over on the Blooma Blog. Most of you have already seen it, linked up from my Facebook page last week, but in case you haven't read it yet - go check it out! My yoga studio, which specializes in prenatal and baby-yoga classes (among other things), sent out an e-newsletter about new year's resolutions and choosing one word as a mantra for the year. Well, considering I essentially did just that last year, I sent them an email back sharing my story about my Year of Being Fearless (I already wrote about it on my blog here, but now I tightened it up a bit and finished the story). Turns out they thought other new mamas or soon-to-be mamas would also like to hear my story, so they asked if they could share it on their blog!

As a side note, let me just add that Blooma is always featuring birth stories and other mama tales, so if you have something to share, send it their way!

For Unto Us a Child is Born!

Now that the newest Pierson is officially seven weeks old, I think it's about time we make our official introductions ...

[Cues "The Circle of Life"]

naaaaaa, savetnahhhhh, abbageeseeahooo

ah-hem.

...

Let's try that again.

Henry Allan Pierson

Born:

Thursday, October 30, 2014

8:43am

6 lbs, 13 oz

20.5 in

A wise person once told me that every pregnancy, labor and delivery has its own surprise. No matter how much you plan for the event and process, there are elements you cannot control. So you just have to wait, with an open mind, until you find out what your unique surprise will be. 

I think it's safe to say that my pregnancy surprise was the DVT (blood clot) that appeared at 30 weeks. After conquering that hurdle, one would think I was in the clear; how much bad luck can one person have? But I had lots of surprises headed my way: 

• a super quick labor of 3.5 hours (this is obviously a welcome surprise!)
• not feeling labor pains the way most women do (also a welcome surprise but it made it hard for the nurses to gauge my contractions, which might have contributed to how things progressed - or didn't progress - later)
• not being allowed to have an epidural due to my blood thinner medication. I wanted a natural childbirth anyway, but not even having the option to fall back on was unexpected and scary
• a long and drawn out second stage of labor - 3.5 hours of pushing!
• not having a supportive nurse or doctor for part of my delivery. It's easy to blame others, but you cannot underestimate the power of a positive birthing environment. 
• only getting five hours of sleep over the course of three nights - starting your recovery so sleep deprived is an added hurdle
• postpartum complications due to my blood clot medication that landed us back in the hospital when Henry was just 10 days old (the youngest "visitor" on the maternity floor!)
• finding out I have a genetic blood clotting disorder (Factor V and II mutations)

[above: the littlest "visitor" back on the maternity floor]

The thing is, I don't see any of these surprises as bad luck. In fact, they are part of my story that has now become Henry's story, so how can those chapters, no matter how stressful or painful, be bad? And of course there are other advantages to having gone through these experiences: 

• I've come to realize that I have a high pain tolerance. Blood clots, natural childbirth, and crazy postpartum procedures (D&C w/o meds!) are just a few of my "tests" these last few months. I don't normally boast about such things, but I think it's okay to let people know that these experiences were hard and I'm proud to have gotten through them. A.A. Milne said it best: "You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think." 
• Now that my blood condition is known, other family members are able to be checked and I can take adequate precautions in the future to ensure I remain healthy and well
• Now that I'm through all of the complications, life with a newborn is relatively easy!

Of course life with a newborn really isn't "easy" per say, but mixed in with all of that hard work and sleep deprivation there is JOY! I'm the type of person who is used to accomplishing a lot with her day and checking stuff off the ol' to-do list. Sure, it's hard adjusting to a slower pace and being okay with not getting much done in any given day. But then I realize how cool it is to be something that doesn't, for a change, require you to accomplish stuff every day.

Yes, there's laundry and nursing and a huge responsibility on my hands now that I'm a mom, but I can sit inside, cozied up with my baby all day and my title doesn't change.

To become a mother:

It's kind of like magic, isn't it?

Standing By

We've officially hit the final waiting period of pregnancy. Baby P is 39 weeks! Of course the entire nine months is one long waiting game, but something happens towards the end when you realize that the baby actually could come at any time. There's some anxiety, antsy-ness, and persistent nesting that sets in, but there is also a sense of calm in knowing that the events that will enfold in the next week or two are pretty much out of your control. It's a slight shift of mindset, perhaps elevated by the fact that you start fantasizing about handing the baby off to someone else and daydreaming about simple things, like jumping, bending and generally being limber. Some days I feel like I've been studying for a test or preparing for a race, and now we are so close to the big event that we set aside our books, our flashcards, our running cleats (whatever metaphor you want to use), take a deep breath, enjoy a pasta feed or two (oh, that's just for track? ... ) and say "bring it on."

Despite the totally consuming and potentially overwhelming nature of waiting for a baby to arrive, we realize that this feeling isn't all that foreign. Waiting for the unknown, that is. In fact, Evan and I have had our share of practice planning for something we have little control over, packing bags when we don't know our destination, waiting--and waiting--to see how everything will unfold, and literally taking a leap of faith into the great unknown. Because as many of you know, for the past year and a half we've traveled around the world flying standby. As a little recap, the mysterious Mr. P is chemistry teacher by day ... airport luggage handler by night (or weekends, as in his case). Thanks to some awesome benefits, we are able to fly as standby passengers, or non-rev, nearly anywhere. [You can read more about our 2013 adventures here.]

But making a trip happen when you don't have a ticket in hand can be a daunting task, and one that requires a certain level of patience and letting go of control, while still holding on to what is most important to you. As with childbirth, you can't control what gets thrown your way--will your connecting flight to Detroit get cancelled at the last second? Will your midwife be on-call when you deliver? Heck, you don't even what time your adventure will begin! But you can know how to navigate amidst those unknowns and remain optimistic.

After our failed attempt to board the 6am Vegas flight, we checked the board to see if anything else looked appealing - or possible. Good thing we decided to stay home, because later that week I ended up with a blood clot!

I am tempted to go into detail about all the non-rev travel skills we've learned and how this applies to childbirth, but for as valuable as that all is for us, I don't think it would make a very interesting read for you. So instead, let's have some fun looking through the non-rev trips Baby P has taken with us these past nine months - in utero. 

Phoenix

Over E's spring break we headed to Phoenix for a little warm-weather reprieve. I was only about a month pregnant at the time and didn't feel wonderful, but that didn't stop me from climbing Camelback and exploring Frank Lloyd Wright's desert home. (Although I did wear those Sea Band bracelets the entire time and I believe there was an emergency string cheese craving run to a gas station at one point). We were happy just to make it home, but for the record, in order to do so, we awoke at 3:30am to catch an early flight to JFK, followed by one to Indianapolis, and finally home on one of the last flights of the day. We worked for this one!


Rapid City

One Saturday morning in April we spontaneously decided to fly to Rapid City, South Dakota. My dad was in town visiting his folks so we decided to go for it. We climbed around on rocks out in the Black Hills, enjoying some quality time with both sets of grandparents, and then proceeded to get stuck there. Yup, the flight home was full and didn't look promising for the next day, so we rented a car and drove home the long way. Mr. P had to make it back for school in the morning!








 






California

Evan's cousin got married in California in June, so off we went to San Jose (because closer destinations failed), followed by a long drive out to the Yosemite area. We stopped for a baby announcement photo shoot in the park, because I was now entering my second trimester! Baby was juuuuust beginning to show.

New Jersey

My parents made the big move away from New Jersey, where they've lived for the last 20-some years, to Massachusetts. So naturally we had to make a quick stop at home one last time to help go through boxes and say goodbye to the ol' house - and the Jersey Shore!

Germany

Our trip to Germany in June deserves a post all it's own. But in a nutshell, we flew into Frankfurt and took the train west to the Mosel Valley region, where we stayed in a B&B for two nights, exploring the castles and towns in the area. Then we stayed with some relatives in southwest Germany for a couple days, while they toured us around the wineries, pastry shops and university towns in their area. We even bopped over to France for an afternoon! Baby P especially enjoyed the homemade Spaetzle (pasta) with zucchini cream sauce ... and of course, all of the chocolate and treats.

North Carolina

My sister got married in North Carolina - right on the first day of my third trimester! The ceremony and reception were beautiful, of course, on a farm out in the countryside near Greensboro. Baby P thoroughly enjoyed the mac n cheese and all of the amazing PIES! But in hindsight, I realize I was already beginning to feel symptoms of my oncoming blood clot and wasn't able to spend much time on the dance floor. Good thing it held off another couple of weeks! Fun fact: Evan actually worked the plane that I flew out to the wedding (see the airport photo near the top of this post) - that was a first!
[photos by Hartman Outdoor Photography]

Our travels were cut short this August and September by a DVT scare (blood clot! Read all about that and my year of being "fearless," here). So we've been grounded for the last 10 weeks. But we're already looking forward to what non-rev travel adventures lie ahead, this time, with Baby P on board! Hospital bags are packed, homemade felt mobile is hanging above the crib, cloth diapers are prepped and ready to go, I've cleaned some random corners of the house and canned a batch of homemade applesauce. 

Now we're just standing by, waiting for our little passenger to arrive.